Sociology students discuss the problems of social interaction

First-year students of the Institute of History, Political and Social Sciences of the “Sociology” direction discussed the problems of social interaction in a discussion format in English.
Professionally significant topics always arouse interest among students, they believe that “such topics are especially relevant, since they are directly related to the direction of study -” Sociology “.

During the discussion, organized by E.P. Shishmolina, Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages ​​of Humanities, the participants asked each other questions of interest to them and tried to give reasoned answers to them. The most active participants were Demyan Karpov, Valeria Chashkina, Kristina Ufimtseva, Natalya Andreeva, Ivan Pavlov, Anna Makashova, Ulyana Vasilyeva, Daria Kononova, Ksenia Anischenko, Ksenia Abrashitova.

Students not only explored issues related to social interaction, but also examined aspects such as social structure and social control. An important point was the understanding of the essence of social interaction as a system of interdependent social actions linked by cyclical dependence, in which the action of one subject is both a cause and a consequence of the response actions of other subjects.

During the discussion, a definition of the social structure was given, which is a set of interrelated elements that make up the internal structure of society. It includes statuses, social roles, groups and social institutions. The students noted that they “were able to figure out what role groups play in the social structure of society; they are an intermediate link between the individual and society as a whole, and most of the social interaction and behavior is influenced by the norms and sanctions imposed by the groups.”

The discussion participants were particularly interested in the issues of social control:

We also managed to understand the concept of “social control”. Social control is a mechanism for regulating relations between the individual and society in order to strengthen order and stability in society. It occurs at all levels of society. In a family, we obey our parents. In peer groups, we obey informal norms, such as dress codes, that govern the behavior of members. In organizations, workers must cope with a formal system of rules and regulations. Finally, the government of each society makes laws and enforces social norms. Social control is divided into two types: formal and informal. Formal social control is exercised by empowered agents such as police officers, judges, school administrators, employers, military personnel, and organizational leaders. Informal social control is used by people accidentally; examples of such control include smiling, laughing, raising eyebrows, and taunting.

Students noted that the event in English became one of the most exciting, they managed to draw attention to the discussion of many aspects of social interaction:

It was very interesting to participate in the briefing and feel like an official. Everyone was able to express their position and find out the point of view of the other. Our group has been preparing for this long and hard. As a result, the briefing turned out to be productive and exciting. We believe that such tasks not only improve our spoken language, English grammar, but also help to unite the team. After all, we did everything together, communicated with each other, interacted, there was no competition. Each joint work is a big job, where everyone works and does it together.